Defying the Stars
by Jupiter loves Drarry
Summary: When Kurt wishes Sue away, he and the rest of the Glee club must run the labyrinth. As they come across people and things set to hold them back, will they reach the castle before the thirteenth hour, or will Sue become a goblin for all eternity?
1. I Wish, I Wish, Upon a Fish

Note: First off, I'd like to say whoo, first Glee/Labyrinth story on FF! Awesome! Next I want to say that Kurt is going to be the main character, the Sarah if you will. This will eventually be Jareth/Kurt with a possible Finn/Kurt thrown in a bit because I like it. Oh also this will have spoilers for episodes as they come out and Quinn had her baby. I'll try not to have it be the movie with Kurt dropped in as Sarah, so there will be original characters and new things though naturally some things will be the same. Oh, by the way Rachel has the book, that's how she knows who Jareth is. Enjoy the story!

**DEFYING THE STARS**

Mr. Schue and Ms. Sylvester were fighting. Again. It was more like nose to nose screaming, really. The thirteen students sitting not ten feet away were not bothered by the sight. Even Jesse was unfazed and he'd only been in New Directions a few weeks. It was no surprise to see the two arguing over something, this time about auditorium use. Apparently Sue had monopolized the auditorium and Will was trying to get time for practice. They were nearing blows soon.

"This is madness, Sue!"

"What's madness is the amount of product in your hair."

"ENOUGH ABOUT THE HAIR! This is about the auditorium, not my hair!"

"It's chilly outside, and my internationally known Cheerios need to keep their muscles warm or they'll pull something."

"It's 78 degrees outside! The sun is _beaming_ Sue!"

They continued screaming and arguing, paying no mind to the students watching the scene. None of them were paying attention anyway. Artie and Tina were making eyes at each other, Quinn was staring off into space, occasionally bringing her hand to her now flat stomach before dropping it when she realized there was no bump, Puck's arm around her shoulders as he sighed in boredom. Brittany and Santana were giggling madly in the back, so who knows what they were doing, Matt and Mike were writing playing on hand held game systems, Mike killing Matt spectacularly. Jesse and Rachel were the only ones really watching Sue and Will, looking between them like a tennis match, Finn was throwing a balled up piece of paper in the air and catching it and Kurt and Mercedes were texting, despite being a foot away from each other.

_This gets old quick._

_ I no. Mr. S and Ms. Sylvester fight like old married peeps._

_ We should've skipped, there's a shoe sale at the mall right now, 75% off until 5:30._

_ Boy, theres a sale n u didnt tell me? We could b shoppin instead of listenin 2 this crazy?_

Kurt gave Mercedes a look and she rolled her eyes before shutting her phone and stuffing it in her pocket, crossing her arms over her chest petulantly. Kurt gave a sigh before recrossing his legs and leaning back, staring blandly at the arguing teachers.

Apparently Rachel could stand for it no longer, as she had leaped from her seat, knocking Jesse's arm from her shoulders. She looked at Sue and Will who had stopped arguing and were staring at her with repulsion and confusion respectively.

"Goblin King, Goblin King! Take Ms. Sylvester far away from me!" She looked around at everyone staring at her and rephrased. "Us!" They all stared at her as if she were crazy for a moment before Sue and Will started arguing again. Rachel sat with a huff and Jesse patted her shoulder lightly as she crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.

Mr. Schue had gotten sick of the hair jokes and turned it back around, insulting her hair. Sue stood there fuming before she turned on her heel and raged out the door and down the hall. Kurt leaned over to Mercedes and jokingly whispered.

"I wish the goblins _would_ come and take her away, right now." Immediately after, Sue could no longer be heard. Normally they could hear her for a long way off, even if she went into another room and shut the door. Will looked slightly concerned and stepped out into the hall, walking down the hall and looking in windows. A crash of lightning and the rumble of thunder made everyone jump and look out the window.

"Wasn't it, like, sunny just now?" Brittany voiced the same question everyone else was wondering and suddenly there was a flailing owl outside one of the windows. Brittany cooed and jumped up, ignoring Santana's angry shout to not let the thing in and opened the window wide. Brittany cried out in shock as it flew past her and over everyone's heads, making them shriek and duck, covering their heads with their hands.

When Kurt heard no more flapping of wings, he gingerly opened his eyes, still covering his head with his hands and they widened at the black boots he saw. Slowly he looked up, bringing his hands down from his head as his eyes went from black boots to black pants, a black long sleeved shirt and a blue and black high collared cape. Blond hair reached past the person's shoulders as it layered around his face. He had the most peculiar eyes, one was blue and the other one was dilated and darker, with eyeshadow below oddly shaped eyebrows. The man (if it _was_ a man, considering it was just in owl form a moment ago) smirked at Kurt and the countertenor remembered himself, resting his clasped hand on one knee, looking up expectantly.

"This is new, normally it's babies or small children wished away, not a fully grown woman." Kurt's eyes widened at the English accent and Rachel jumped in, holding her hand out.

"Hello, Jareth! I'm Rachel Berry. I welcome you to the Aboveground!" She had a big grin on her face and Jareth eyed her before looking back at Kurt.

"Is she always like this?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Jareth raised an eyebrow at her before going back to business, turning to Kurt. Her face fell until it was a scowl and she glared at Kurt a moment before stomping out of the room in a snit, Jesse chasing after her. Kurt grimaced, "Sorry, she's a diva. What were you saying?" It would be a lie for Kurt to say he did not appreciate the vision before him. Jareth was completely gorgeous, anyone with eyes could see that, and he was only talking to Kurt! If Kurt was struck dead in the next moment he would die happy. Well maybe if Finn kissed him he would die happy, but he would die pleased, that's for sure.

"You will have to run my labyrinth to get your teacher back." There were several groans, all which were the same of 'I don't wanna run a labyrinth to get Ms. Sylvester back'.

"Where is she?"

"In my castle, beyond the Goblin City." Jareth pointed a gloved hand out the door and instead of seeing Mr. Towers' English Lit class, it showed a huge labyrinth with a castle towering in the center. Sue's voice drifted back, still raging over what Will said.

"You have thirteen hours in which to complete my labyrinth, or your teacher will stay here forever."

"Oh _hell_ no. There's no way my main man is going _anywhere_ without me, got it?" Mercedes stood, giving Jareth the Diva Hand, the other on her hip. Artie and Tina immediately agreed and Brittany wound her arm through Kurt's, smiling at her friend, going too. Santana groaned and stood by Brittany, weight on one leg with her arms crossed over her chest, not willing to let Brittany go somewhere she could end up in trouble and not be able to get out of. Quinn jumped up, willing to go. She and Kurt had become close after the baby was born, and she didn't want her friend to go on an adventure of this proportion without her. Mike and Matt shrugged and joined the growing group of people going, sticking hands in their pockets. Finn looked between Jareth and Kurt, not liking the look he was giving the shorter teen. Finn stood and walked over behind Kurt, staring down Jareth. He was a bit intimidating, but as with almost everyone else Finn was taller. The blond raised an eyebrow but said nothing, turning his attention back to Kurt.

At that moment Jesse reappeared with Rachel, both arguing avidly as he practically dragged her into the room. Rachel still looked angry at being ignored, but Jesse gave an apologetic smile to the rest of the club before joining the group of people, though Rachel tried to protest. Puck groaned before standing next to Quinn, smirking when Quinn shot him a happy smile.

"All of you will join Kurt through my labyrinth?" With the various agreements, he stood to the side, gesturing for the thirteen students to go through the door first. As they all filed out, Jareth shut the door behind him and the school disappeared. "Thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth or your teacher becomes a goblin, forever. Such a pity." The thirteen teenagers stared at the place Jareth disappeared from, blinking in surprise.

"Is anyone feeling Ms. Sylvester might be better as a goblin?"Artie piped up and there were murmurs of agreement, but they moved on nonetheless, searching for the entrance. Ten minutes later and no entrance to speak of, the gleeks were already getting frustrated.

"How are we supposed to even start? There's no door!" Mercedes put one hand on her hip, glaring at the bricks.

"Look, there's a person, let's ask." Kurt pointed toward a quite short man with white hair facing away. He strode forward quickly and then gasped when a pretty little fairy flew by and then was sprayed by the short man. It gave out a cry as it fell, crumpling into a tiny heap. Kurt pushed past the man and scooped up the fairy before turning and realizing the short man wasn't a man at all, he was a dwarf.

"How vile, trying to kill a fai-ow!" Mercedes and Quinn rushed over, examining his hand as he stared down at the fairy he had dropped in shock, it grinned evilly, revealing a set of long needle-like teeth before flitting away. "It bit me!" A small bruise formed on his finger and he shook it slightly to ease the sting.

"What do you expect fairies to do?" The dwarf turned and sprayed another fairy, laughing at it's pitiful squeal before kicking dirt over it.

"I thought they did nice things." Brittany spoke, looking at the hurt fairy on the ground, pinky entwined with Santana's.

"Yeah like grant wishes and stuff." Finn offered, remembering from various Disney movies from when he was little. When Puck turned to look at him he shrugged, and it seemed to placate the other teen.

"Yeah well shows what you know, don't it? Fifty eight!"

"You're horrible."

"No I ain't, I'm Hoggle. Who are you?"

"Kurt." Hoggle eyed the other twelve teens before motioning to them.

"And who are they?" Kurt turned slightly, as if he didn't know it was the glee club.

"Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Quinn, Puck, Santana, Brittany, Finn, Mike, Matt, Jesse and Rachel." Kurt pointed to each person before turning back to face Hoggle again. "Do you know where the door to the Labyrinth is?"

"Maybe."

"Well where is it, we ain't got all day." Mercedes stepped forward and Hoggle moved forward, spraying more fairies.

"Where is what?"

"The door!"

"What door?"

"Ugh! You are the most maddeningly unhelpful person I've ever talked to, and I've talked to Rachel Berry." Kurt ignored Rachel's insulted shout, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on one leg. "It's hopeless asking you anything."

"Not if you ask the right questions." Kurt felt like throwing the dwarf into the pond they passed, following him as he sprayed fairies.

"How do we get into the labyrinth?" Kurt was already at the end of his short fuse, and they hadn't even started the labyrinth yet.

"Now that's more like it! You get in there." Hoggle pointed a knobby finger between Brittany and Finn where a door opened the gleeks were pretty positive was not a door previously. Kurt walked between them, biting his lip as he passed Finn. He wasn't being very subtle about his crush on the quarterback, but Finn really wasn't the brightest bulb in the box. He had practically told Finn when Mr. Schue had them do ballads, but Finn only had an adorably cute confused look on his face before Mercedes interrupted to sing to Quinn and Finn. The others followed in, looking left and right.

"Now, which way will you go, left or right?"

"They both look exactly the same." Hoggle snorted, shaking his head.

"Well you aren't gonna get very far."

"Well which way would you go?" Kurt looked down at Hoggle, ready to just get started already.

"I wouldn't do either."

"If that's all the help you'll be, you can just go." Quinn made a shooing motion with her hand and Hoggle growled.

"You know your problem? You all take too much for granted!"

"Yeah well thanks for nothing, Huddle." Mercedes turned on her heel and looped her arm through Kurt's as they all started walking away.

"Grrrr it's HOGGLE! And don't say I didn't warn you!" The dwarf turned around and staked back through the doors, slamming them after him.

"Well, which way should we go? They both look the same, what is the difference?" Quinn looked down the right and then turned to look down the left, raising her hands in a shrug when she could see no turns.

"Maybe we should split up and stuff?" Finn suggested and Mercedes shot that idea down right quick.

"Uh uh! No way are we splittin' up! Haven't you ever been to the movies? When they split up is when they all start dying."

"Mercedes don't be ridiculous." Kurt put a hand on Mercedes' arm before addressing his fellow glee clubbers. "But she is right. Even if we do split up, how will we get back in touch with each other? We should just stick together." Everyone nodded and decided to just go right. There were things laying on the path, heavy tree roots, branches, leaves and broken cobblestones. Tina was having the worst time trying to push Artie's chair. The two were lagging slightly behind the others but Mike or Matt would look back to make sure they weren't too far behind, occasionally helping Tina.

After about thirty minutes of walking forward with no turns in sight, Santana gave a gusty sigh leaning against the brick wall. Brittany leaned next to her with a smile and Quinn turned to her ex fellow Cheerios with a raised eyebrow.

"How is this a labyrinth, there aren't turns or corners at all. It just goes on and on." Brittany patted Santana's shoulder and Rachel stepped forward, a bright look on her face.

"Maybe it doesn't! He said our weakness was taking things for granted, right? Maybe we are taking it for granted that it goes forever!" With that, she broke out into a run, the other twelve looking at each other before Jesse ran off after her. Quinn shrugged and started jogging, pulling Kurt with her despite his protests. They all started off after Rachel for about five minutes, until Kurt got a stitch in his side and had to stop. Santana hit a wall, giving a shriek of irritation. Brittany rubbed Santana's now sore hand between her two paler ones, talking quietly to the darker girl. Finn went to lean against the wall, not winded since he was used to running for football, but when he expected brick wall he met nothing. He flailed his arms around as he fell, exposing the fact that there was an entrance hidden in plain sight. Everyone's eyes widened as the quarterback scrambled to his feet.

"I know you don't hear this much, Finn, but you are a genius." Kurt gave Finn a fleeting hug before tentatively holding his hands palms forward to not run into the wall. He turned right with a grin, motioning for the others to follow. As they continued the path they were immediately met with a turn. They all smiled to each other, finally getting started on the maze. No one noticed the mischievous sets of blue and green eyes staring down at them from the edge of the wall five feet up.

A/N: Sweet, first chapter up and running! Tell me what you think! Next chapter will be up as soon as I can write it, though I have this and another story to write at the same time but it will certainly be sometime in May. Until next time!


	2. Entering the Labyrinth

Note: Here's chapter two, as promised! I should mention there _will_ be things from the movie as you can tell from the first chapter, and there will definitely be new situations and characters to lead Kurt and New Directions off the path. So if OCs make you mad, don't read because it will be full of them. Also Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson.

**DEFYING THE STARS**

It was only a few minutes later when they met their first complication upon entering the labyrinth. They passed through a door that had appeared randomly in the labyrinth, and when it shut behind Puck, the world flipped. The grass was up, the sky was down and everyone cried out in shock. It was as if someone just took the earth and turned it over. Kurt dropped down to the grass like a rock, or dropped up really. Mercedes slowly kneeled, fisting her fingers in the grass, Brittany had tears in her eyes as she desperately held on to Santana, scared. Rachel held on to Jesse, Finn, Puck, Matt, Mike and Tina froze, Quinn latched onto a hedge and Artie held tightly onto the arms of his wheelchair, his knuckles white.

"Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God!" Kurt was terrified, if he moved, would he fall off the earth? Fall into space and then die of asphyxiation?

"What are we gonna do?"

"I don't like this!"

"We're gonna fall off the earth!"

"Guys! Calm down, we can be logical about this." Jesse tried to calm everyone, but everyone just looked at him for a second before returning to their freak outs. He gave a long sigh before gently pulling his foot from the ground. When it lost contact and he did not immediately fly away he put it down ahead slightly, taking a step. He heard Rachel buzzing in his ear, but he wasn't paying attention to her at the moment, more focused on not falling from the earth. Jesse took another step with his other foot before slowly walking.

"This is very disorienting." Rachel stared after him a moment before following slowly. Both had their hands out for balance as if walking a tight rope. Mercedes tugged Kurt to his feet and he grabbed hold of her hand in fear. Tina pushed Artie slowly and the others began inching their way down the lane. At about halfway down the lane, Puck burst into a run, causing everyone to dart after him. Rachel and Jesse stared in shock as the rest of the club ran past them before running off after them. When they burst through the end of the hedge, the world suddenly righted.

"Okay, this is making me dizzy." Kurt pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead, taking deep breaths, Mercedes rubbing his back soothingly. Everyone was catching their breath from the run, and no one noticed the vines going for several gleeks. Half a foot away, the vines abruptly shot out, wrapping around the legs of Santana, Mike, Matt and Tina. The four screamed and tried to pry the vines off as they tugged them to the floor and towards the hedge. Brittany and Quinn went for Santana, Puck went to Mike, Finn went to Matt and Kurt and Mercedes ran to Tina. The more the four struggled, the tighter the vines got as they traveled further up them.

Brittany and Quinn stomped hard on the vines attacking Santana over and over. The Latina's legs were being pulled under the brush before the vines made a pathetic whine and gave up on the Cheerio, slithering back under the hedge petulantly. Tina was the first one pulled in since she was lighter than the other two boys and Kurt and Mercedes weren't as strong as Finn or Puck.

The two divas scrambled at the black tipped fingers as they disappeared from the brush and Artie rammed his wheelchair into the hedge, screaming to give Tina back. Puck had taken a cue from the girls and brought his heel down on the vines around Mike and they tightened before slithering away. Mike scrambled up and away from the hedge, but Matt was not so lucky as it pulled him under as well. Kurt was reaching around with his arm shoulder deep in the hedge but felt nothing but more twigs and leaves. He stood up, brushing himself off before putting his hands on his hips, facing the castle looming in the distance.

"Jareth! Get your sparkly, glittering a-"

"I'm right here, you needn't shout." Kurt whirled around to see Jareth leaning casually against the hedge, four feet away. He had changed clothes, now he was in a billowy white shirt with a silver pendant around his neck, black vest, criminally tight gray pants and knee high boots. Kurt couldn't think for a moment, staring at the Goblin King until he spoke again, arms crossed over his chest. "Well?"

"Oh, yes. Where are Matt and Tina?" Jareth sighed brought his hand up, bringing his fingers together as a crystal appeared in his hand. In the crystal an image of Matt and Tina slumped asleep on the choir room floor showed up.

"They're in your little school." Artie gave a sigh of relief, knowing his girlfriend was safe at the school. Jareth dropped the crystal and it popped out of existence before it shattered on the floor. "Been having a good time in my labyrinth?" Jareth gave Kurt a slow smirk and the countertenor flushed only slightly before raising his chin, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a one shouldered shrug.

"It's all right."

"All right, eh? Then you won't mind me upping the stakes." Suddenly the ground opened up and swallowed Puck, Mike and Mercedes, their surprised shouts getting quieter and quieter as they fell until there was nothing.

"'Cedes!" Kurt whirled around and slammed his fist onto Jareth's chest with all his might, which truthfully wasn't all that much. "You bring her back, you bring her back this instant!" Jareth caught his thin wrists in his gloved hands, holding tightly as Kurt struggled.

"You're quite feisty, aren't you?" That made Kurt freeze, a furious blush across his nose and cheeks and his mouth to go dry as if someone stuffed it with one of Rachel's horrible animal sweaters. "Ah, you've stopped. Good. Now, your friends are perfectly safe away in that school and will not reawaken until you have either run out of time or finished my labyrinth, which is highly unlikely since only one person has ever got to the castle in thirteen hours." Jareth saw Kurt's resolve harden further in his green eyes and smirked, knowing the teen would make for an interesting run. Sometimes the stupidest people ran his labyrinth, one had spent the thirteen hours just inside the labyrinth doors trying to find a way in.

"I _will _get to the castle and I _will_ get Ms. Sylvester back." Kurt yanked his hands out of Jareth's and stomped away, his fellow glee club members following in various smug states. Jareth watched them go with a smirk, and when they rounded the corner he disappeared in a cloud of glitter.

Twenty minutes later, they had emerged from the hedges and were now in a maze of walls in various states of deconstruction. The gleeks were quiet for a long time until Quinn noticed something.

"I think we've been this way before, because I remember seeing this crack in the wall, it's shaped like a heart." The former Cheerio pointed to said crack and Santana groaned, leaning against the wall.

"We're just walking in stupid circles, my feet hurt and I'm surrounded by idiots, no offense Brit."

"I thought we only cheered for defense." Everyone stared at Brittany as she smiled blankly. Santana patted Brittany's arm as Quinn pulled out a tube of lipstick from her pocket.

"We can mark the ground, so we make sure we don't go a way we've been." At that the blonde kneeled and drew a red arrow facing the way they would be heading. The remaining eight students continued on, Quinn stopping occasionally to put a lipstick arrow. It wasn't long before they hit a dead end. When they turned around, the mark Quinn had just made was gone. "Someone's been changing my marks! What a horrible place this is, it's not fair!" Brittany hugged Quinn as she wiped frustrated tears from her cheeks.

"That's right! It's not fair!" The eight swung around in surprise, looking at two guards that had a head at the top and bottom of the shield it was holding standing in front of doors that were definitely not there a minute ago. The two laughed and one head shouted out, "But that's only half of it!"

"That was a dead end only a minute ago." Kurt put one hand on his hip, looking at the guards with narrowed eyes.

"No, that's the dead end, behind you!" Another head offered before they all set off in chuckles again. Kurt turned around and there was indeed a dead end. Quinn was not the only one getting frustrated.

"It keeps changing, what am I supposed to do?" Kurt pinched the bridge of his nose as he muttered the rhetorical question, but one of the heads answered him anyway.

"Well the only way out is to try one of these doors!"

"One of them leads to the castle at the center of the labyrinth, and the other leads to..."

"Buh buh buh bum!"

"Certain death!" The blue guard gave the little speech and the teens looked between the doors, deciding which one to choose.

"Which one is which?"

"We can't tell you!"

"Well why not?" One lower head looked to the other for a moment before answering.

"We don't know. But they do!" Simultaneously they looked up at the top heads and they peeked up from behind the shield.

"You can only ask one of us! And I should warn you, one of us _always_ lies, and the other one always tells the truth! This one's the liar."

"Am not, I tell the truth!"

"Oh, what a lie!" The bottom heads giggled and Kurt rolled his eyes. Santana, Quinn, Rachel and Jesse all looked bored, Artie looked eager to solve a riddle. Finn and Brittany both looked very confused.

"Okay, answer yes or no." Kurt walked up to the red guard, "Would he tell me this door leads to the castle?" The red guard looked to the blue, contemplating.

"Uhhh..." He looked down to consult the other red guard and they muttered for a moment before he looked back up. "Uh, yes?"

"Then...the other door leads to the castle, and this one to certain death!"

"Oooh!" The four called in awe before red spoke again.

"How do you know? He could be telling the truth!"

"But then _you _wouldn't be, since you told me his answer his yes, then it is no."

"I could be telling the truth!"

"Then _he_ would be lying! So if you told me he said yes, I know the answer is still no" Kurt looked overly smug about it and the red furrowed his eyebrows.

"Wait a minute..."He looked over at blue, "Is that right?"

"I don't know, I've never understood it!" The four laughed and Kurt walked over to the blue guarded door.

"No, it's right, I've figured it out." He pushed open the door and looked over his shoulder at the seven others. "I could never get it before...I think I'm getting smarter, this is a piece of ca-" The floor opened, swallowing Kurt up and everyone rushed forward, shouting their surprise.

"KURT!"

A/N: Ah, a bit shorter this time, but here you are! I don't have much to say really, besides to not assume what you think is going to happen next, because I assure you it won't be what happened to Sarah, and that's all I'm saying for now! Next update sometime the next week. Also, loved straight!Kurt, he was so adorable this episode!


	3. The Sly Gryffin

Note: Oh Finn, no! Bad Finn, bad! I didn't like him at all this past episode. I think that's where Kurt's crush on him sort of goes down in flames. Anyway, thank you those who reviewed and alerted I love you! This won't be too long, probably a max of ten chapters...

**DEFYING THE STARS**

"Ahhhhh!" Kurt screamed in a very high pitch as he kept falling and falling, until something stopped his descent. Whatever it was kept pinching and grabbing at him, and was definitely wrinkling his Alexander McQueen jacket but he had other things on his mind, like not falling to his death.

"Kurt!" Looking up, he could see a square of light mostly blocked by Finn and Jesse about ten feet up. Apparently he really didn't fall for that long before he was caught on whatever was holding him there, but it felt like a long time while he was falling. Finn was reaching down the hole, his extra long arms helping to reach Kurt. When Kurt stretched his hand up to grab Finn's, their fingertips only barely brushed. Kurt was too far down the hole to get back from pulling him back out.

"Ouch! Help!"

"Hold on, Kurt!"

"What do you mean, help? We _are _helping!" A disembodied voice spoke by Kurt's ear and when he looked over he saw several hands together forming a face.

"We're Helping Hands!" Another few hands moved to make a different shaped face before disbanding.

"You're hurting me and wrinkling my Alexander McQueen jacket!" He would definitely have bruises in the morning from all the manhandling and pinching. "Stop pinching me!"

"Would you like us to stop?" Abruptly the hands let go of him and he plummeted again.

"NO!" They caught him two feet down and Kurt looked up at the square of light even further away. His eyes were stinging with scared and frustrated tears, and a bit of pain.

"Well?" A set of hands asked and another formed. "Which way?"

"Which way?"He asked, though he figured he knew what they were talking about.

"Up or down!" Kurt made a noise of understanding and looked up.

"Come on, come on!"

"We haven't got all day!"

"Which way do you want to go?" They heckled him and he had no hesitation in his decision.

"Definitely up!" Kurt couldn't wait to get away from the hands, one of them kept grabbing his butt. They were very handsy hands.

"He chose up, he chose up!"

"Up coming right up!" They started pulling and pushing him upwards towards the ever growing square of light, the trek even more painful than the last time. Finn had returned and grasped Kurt's smaller hand, easily heaving his lighter frame from the hole. Kurt clung to Finn when his feet were firmly planted on the ground, his tears spilling over in relief. He felt someone behind him and on both sides, everyone making a big group hug. Kurt swiped his eyes quickly before pulling back and taking a deep breath.

"I hope nothing else scary like that happens!" Brittany said and held Santana's hand tightly as the eight students side stepped the hole (or rolled around it in Artie's case) and continued down the alley. When they rounded a corner, they were only slightly surprised to see a boy hanging from a thick branch that reached over the walkway. His long black hair brushed the ground and when he opened his eyes, they were sky blue. When he straightened his legs, instead of falling down, he did a sort of flip, landing on his feet. Another boy dropped down from a higher branch, this one with platinum blond hair in ear length curls, eyes a rich emerald green. The two were dressed alike, in the same style as Jareth. The blond had a black silk shirt left open with dark gray tight leggings and black ankle boots that were reminiscent of Peter Pan. The brunette had a royal blue shirt with white leggings and black knee length boots. They both had a lightning bolt pendant.

"Hello pretty humans! I am Gryffin!" The blond one did a lavish bow, nose touching his knees.

"I am Sly." The brunet gave a little salute to the students before smiling a bit mischievously. Now that he was right side up, they could see his hair reached his waist.

"What are you doing in our lovely labyrinth?" Gryffin leaned against the leafy hedge with a bright smile.

"We're getting to the center." Kurt answered in a 'duh' tone.

"Well it's quite obvious, since we've never seen you lot before, and I doubt you're here for the sights." Sly said and rolled his eyes at the other boy for asking the ridiculous question.

"Do you want a guide? We'll take you right to Jareth!" Gryffin slung his arm around Kurt's shoulder and started walking down the lane. They got about two steps before Kurt shrugged the arm off. He didn't want some person he didn't know touching him! Gryffin pouted and walked on, looking petulant. Kurt gave a long sigh and followed after with his friends and Sly who he didn't trust very much. He looked too mischievous to Kurt, and he hoped that the two weren't leading them astray.

After thirty minutes and the castle _did_ look closer, Quinn needed to stop. There was a convenient tree stump about five feet ahead and she gratefully sat down, taking off one ballet flat to rub her sore feet.

"How long have we been in here? It feels like we've walked around forever."

"Only six hours, pretty. Not long at all." Gryffin sat down next to Quinn, petting her hair. "You're all more than half way there, you'll make it in no time." Quinn batted his hand away from her and stood, moving behind Finn who was practically killing the fae with his eyes for being all over Quinn (and part for being all over Kurt, but he didn't let himself linger on that thought). Gryffin held up his hands in a placating manner and linked arms with Sly as the two continued down the path. Kurt rolled his eyes and pushed Artie after them, not wanting to lose them, despite not liking them very much.

"Why are you helping us?" Kurt asked after the duo had made a _fourth_ right, making a square.

"More like making us even more lost." Artie murmured under his breath so Gryffin and Sly couldn't hear, and Kurt stifled a giggle.

"Because our King hasn't had someone best him since Sarah, and that was almost twenty five years ago! His ego is as big as his hair." Gryffin and Sly laughed heartily but the glee kids said nothing. Quinn noticed a crystal rolling between her and Brittany and tapped Finn's arm, pointing at it as it passed Artie's chair when Finn turned to look at her. Finn pointed it out to Kurt and he groaned.

Jareth was nearby.

"Uh oh." Gryffin noticed the crystal as it passed between him and Sly before stopping before a hag sitting in the road and popping up, defying gravity into the cup it held.

"What do we have here?" She said in an old voice and Gryffin put on a charming smile.

"Oh, nothing!"

"Nothing? Nothing tra la la?" Suddenly the hag was not a hag any longer as it stood, dropping the coat and mask to reveal Jareth. Gryffin and Sly stared up at the taller man, not backing down.

"Hello his nibs." Gryffin smiled brightly at Jareth who merely stared down the boy. Sly stood off to the side, not wanting to get into any trouble with Jareth, a bit cowardly.

"Are you helping them, boys?" Jareth clasped his hands behind his back as he looked between Gryffin and Sly and the two immediately shook their heads.

"No, of course not!"

"We were...leading them back to the beginning!"

"WHAT!" The eight shouted, angry they even decided to follow the two at all if they were only going to lead them back to the beginning again.

"We were only letting them think we were helping, of course. We'd never help runners, are you kidding!" Gryffin waved the idea away and Sly nodded in agreement. Jareth stared at them for a long moment before accepting their words.

"Good, because if I thought you were helping them, I'd drop you in the Bog." Gryffin and Sly gave a heavy shudder at the idea as Jareth walked over to Kurt.

"How are you enjoying my labyrinth, Kurt?" He said lowly and put one hand on the wall Kurt was leaning against. Kurt pressed his body flush against the brick, willing his cheeks not to tinge pink.

"It's a piece of cake." He said in a voice more confident and calm than he really felt, and Jareth smirked before walking a few steps away. Kurt slowly let out a shaky breath.

"A piece of cake, hmm?" Jareth produced another crystal from thin air with a smirk, "How about this little slice?" He tossed it into the darkness before disappearing in a puff of smoke as something started clanking. It was getting closer and Gryffin and Sly gave a shout.

"It's the cleaners!"

"What!" The two started running in the opposite direction away from the machine that was coming at them with rotating knives, screws and other sharp, unpleasant looking items.

"Run!" That was all they needed to get moving. The eight screamed as they ran after the two, Kurt pushing Artie's chair as he ran with Artie gripping the arms in fear, looking back at the Cleaners every so often. Brittany fell at one point, her shoe caught in a crack on the floor. Santana and Quinn jerked her up to keep her from getting killed. Finn ran into the closed and locked gate, shaking it hard to let them pass. Kurt screamed in frustration and fear of getting killed. Jesse kicked a wall, and was surprised when it moved slightly.

"Guys! Help me push!" Jesse called out and Rachel was immediately by his side. Finn and Kurt were on his left and Brittany, Santana and Quinn were on Rachel's right, pushing with all their might. Artie was keeping an eye on how close the Cleaners were getting and it was almost upon them when the wall fell down. The seven ran into the safety of the next room, but when Artie went to roll in, his wheelchair was stuck in a lowered stone that was the size of his wheels. Artie whimpered as he fiddled with the wheels, looking back at the scary metal coming at his back, only feet away. He shut his eyes as the metal tip started digging into his backpack when Finn darted out and scooped Artie up from his chair and leaping to safety just as it annihilated the small chair. Finn twisted his body so he took the brunt of the fall, not Artie and landed with a huff.

"T-thanks Finn." Artie was laying on Finn, unable to pull himself up, though he pushed the top half of his body up off the taller teen. Jesse and Kurt pulled him off Finn as he stood, he picked Artie up again and put him on his back, piggyback style. They didn't know what they would do now Artie's chair was only scrap metal and plastic now but they'd worry about that later. Artie held on to Finn's shoulders as tightly as he could and Finn held him up by the backs of his knees.

"Are you comfortable?" Finn turned his head towards Artie and the smaller boy nodded.

"I'm fine." Artie was lighter than Finn had thought, so it was really easy to carry him on his back. He wouldn't want to always do that, at like school or whatever, but it wasn't a problem for him. Gryffin and Sly found a ladder right away but Santana argued following them.

"They totally just said they were going to lead us back, why should we go with them?" She put one hand on her hip and Sly answered the question for them.

"Because the only way out is up." He and Gryffin began climbing the ladder and Kurt sighed in resignation before beginning climbing. Everyone followed and Finn went last so Artie wouldn't accidentally kick someone in the face because he had to let go to climb up. Artie held on tighter, not daring to look down as they climb higher and higher before Gryffin moved aside something at the top of the ladder and pulled himself out.

"Ah! Here we are, right where I planned, of course!"

"Yes, you completely planned Jareth blindsiding us and setting the Cleaners on us." Sly sarcastically remarked as Brittany helped Santana out of the huge vase the ladder led out of.

"I saw the Blind Side, and none of them were blind." Brittany said slowly and Kurt patted her head gently. Gryffin and Sly glanced at each other before giving a cough that sounded remarkably like 'crazy'. Santana flipped them off before linking arms with the blonde Cheerio. Gryffin and Sly led them to another set of doors that had large brass knockers in the form of heads, one with the ring in it's ears, the other in it's mouth.

"Well this is as far as we go!"

"You need to get to the castle on your own now."

"You said you were going to take us right to Jareth!" Rachel cried out, hands on her hips.

"Well that was before the Bog. No one deserves the Bog of Eternal Stench, one toe in the bog and you will smell bad for the rest of your life. It will never come off." Sly said seriously and Gryffin waved goodbye.

"Toodles!" They walked away and rounded a corner, disappearing from view. Finn shifted Artie slightly to get a better grip on the smaller boy and Kurt looked between the doors.

"I'm slightly afraid now, I don't want to fall into another hole." He hesitated, not wanting to continue if it meant another meeting of those horrible Hands. Santana rolled her eyes and stepped up to the one with the ring in it's mouth and knocked twice. The door slowly opened and she looked at Kurt snidely before walking in with Brittany.

"It's so pretty here!" The blonde cried when she saw what was on the other side. It looked like a forest pixies and sprites would live, all woodsy and green. The sun beamed down through the leaves, giving rays of light here and there. They walked for a few minutes, wandering around the forest, not sure which way to go. Kurt turned to look at the group and his brow furrowed as he counted heads.

"Where are Rachel and Quinn?" They were suddenly gone, no sign of them anywhere. It was as if they just disappeared. Jesse called out for Rachel and Finn called Quinn, but when neither girl called out, they realized something must have happened to them.

"They're probably back at school with Tina and the others." Artie offered from Finn's back, biting his lip. He had grown to like Quinn and Rachel, however catty both may be. They were all friends now. The others hesitatingly agreed and continued through the forest. Finn's stomach took that moment to growl loudly and he flushed at the noise.

"Sorry. I'm starving!" Artie and Jesse agreed, though the girls and Kurt were fine. They walked for almost an hour, and Finn's arms were starting to get tired and it felt like Artie was getting heavier and heavier with every step. Kurt could see smoke rising from a chimney and he headed for the home, hoping they would let the six stay for a bit and hopefully had some extra food for them to eat.

A/N: Well there's that chapter! I haven't much to say really...I'm glad you guys like it, and enjoy this latest chapter! Until next time!


	4. Running the Labyrinth

Note: A long while since the last update, bad author, bad! I haven't much to say in this one, so I'll let you get to it!

**DEFYING THE STARS**

Kurt realized his hopes for being able to stay at the house for a minute to rest their tired feet would not be able to work. The house looked a lot larger from far away than it really was, since it sat at the top of a small hill. Finn could look over the roof of the house, it was so small. The door only came up to Kurt's hip, and the little windows were barely the size of his hand. He bent over and knocked on the door, trying to look in the tiny windows, but there were curtains shutting out the light. After a moment, he went to knock again but his hand was met with air and he nearly knocked over the person who answered, barely as tall as his knee.

"Oh, sorry!"

"Is ok! Piip have hard head! How cans help yous?" The little goblin stared up with wide green eyes, having to crane it's neck back hard enough to rest his head against his shoulders.

"Oh, well we were wondering if we could come to your home and rest for a minute, and if you possibly had anything to spare for eating. We've been running the labyrinth for hours and are famished."

"Come in, come in!" Piip waved them in excitedly, but the teens merely looked at each other and the small door before realizing that going inside would be quite impossible.

"Wait, er, Piip." The goblin returned, confusion writ across it's tiny face.

"What wrong?"

"We're too big to fit in your home. Finn is taller than it." Kurt motioned over to Finn who was struggling to keep Artie from slipping off his back. Another goblin who looked just like Piip appeared out of nowhere, leaping onto Piip's back.

"We's giving piggy backsies rides now?" He grinned at Artie and Finn and Piip frowned before dropping hard on his back, knocking the wind out of the other goblin.

"No piggy backsies, Pinn!"

"Is ok, you is too weak anyways!"

"Weak! Well your mother is aardvark!"

"Your mother is my mother! Your mother is dragon toe!"

"Snake skin!"

"Chicken feather!"

"Moss licker!"

"Bog breath!"

"PRETTY!" Pinn gave a big gasp, eyes shining as he turned his back on Piip.

"Yous go too far that time." Piip patted Pinn on the shoulder.

"I sorry. Your mother not pretty, she very ugly."

"It ok, she kinda pretty." Piip and Pinn laughed and the six teens looked at each other, bemused.

"If no piggy backsies, why he gets piggy backsies?" Pinn asked and everyone shuffled awkwardly a moment before Artie rolled his eyes.

"I can't walk and Jareth caused my wheelchair to become metal puree."

"Wheelie chair? We no have wheelie chair."

"No wheelie chair," Piip shook his head sadly before snapping it back up in excitement, "We DO have shoesies, though!"

"Oh, yes! Shoesies shoesies!" Piip and Pinn ran off into another room, and loud banging and muttering was heard. A loud crash, followed with "Fragging aardvark!" and "Goblin gizzard!" before they returned, each carrying one shoe. They were the worst eyesores anyone had ever seen, neon green, sunshine yellow, electric blue and hot pink.

"I already have shoes, thanks though." Artie pointed down to his clean black Chucks but the tiny goblins only shook their heads wildly.

"No, no! These is special!"

"Puts 'em on!" Finn gingerly dropped Artie onto a chair and gave a grateful groan, rubbing his back.

"I don't weight that much, do I?" Artie joked before untying the laces with little difficulty, but removing the shoe was being problematic. Kurt dropped to one knee and helped the other teen, removing the other shoe while he was there. Piip handed Artie one shoe, offering it over his head like a human sacrifice, and Pinn just dropped the other into Artie's lap.

When Artie had both shoes on, the loose laces yanked out, tightening to his feet before zooming through the holes quickly, on their own accord. Kurt leaned back in shock and Artie made a frightened noise. When the laces bowed at the top and moved no more, everyone let out a collective breath.

"They're burning!" Artie bent over, chest flush with his legs to take the shoes off, they were immensely hot and it hurt.

"You feel that?" Finn asked and Santana whacked him in the arm for being thoughtless. Kurt helped Artie pick at the laces, but they were not budging. Suddenly, the air expelled from his chest when something rammed into his stomach hard. Kurt crumpled, grabbing his stomach and Artie stared down at his foot in surprise, shock and awe.

"D-did you see that?" Abruptly, one foot shot forward and the group cried out. "Woah, wait!" The other foot joined it's twin and Artie was grabbing the chair arms a bit fearfully. His legs were moving as if they were walking, and seemed to realize they weren't getting anywhere. They stepped back and it forced Artie standing. "Oh my god."

"Dude! You're standing!" Finn stared, even more gobsmacked than usual as well as Santana, Jesse and recovered Kurt. Brittany was too distracted by the little goblins. One of Artie's legs lurched forward and everyone instinctively reached out to catch him but the teen waved them off.

"I got this." His other leg came up to meet it's twin and Artie gave a breathless laugh, a single happy tear rolling down his cheek. "I can walk. I can walk!" Kurt gave his fellow Muppet Babies friend a hug, ecstatic for him. Brittany came in on the other side, not giving up an opportunity to hug, one of her favorite things ever. Santana rolled her eyes but gave him a one armed quick hug and Finn and Jesse patted his shoulders.

A loud clock rang the hour and Kurt jumped up, frantically realizing he had only four hours to complete the maze and he had no idea how far away the castle was.

"We gotta go!" Kurt picked up Artie's Cons, tying the laces together so they wouldn't lose a shoe and handing them to his now fully capable friend who was moving his legs around in awe. Brittany gave the small goblins a hug and the six remaining glee clubbers headed out in the direction they believed the castle to be. Artie was enjoying his new walking abilities, running around the group in a circle and then running down the path a ways then running back. He even danced several times with Brittany joining in.

About an hour after leaving Piip and Pinn's house, Finn's stomach growled loudly again and he cursed.

"We forgot to get food back at the house!" Kurt looked around and pointed at a small farm of trees with apples hanging from the branches.

"Well, look, here's an apple tree!" Kurt walked over to the shiny red apples and plucked one, only to receive a branch to the face. "Ow!" The apple had dropped in shock and had smashed on contact, so Kurt reached up for another. Before he could even touch one, another branch hit him on the back of the head and Kurt gave an irritated shout. He backed up a step, glaring at the tree with his hands on his hips.

"What do you think you're doing?" A disembodied voice asked, and Kurt's eyebrows flew up in surprise.

"Who's there?"

"Me."

"Me who?"

"You're not one of the bright ones, are you child? I'm standing right in front of you. You tried to steal my apples." Kurt's jaw dropped, as did everyone else's and Jesse reached forward and grabbed Kurt's wrist, pulling him back with the group and away from talking trees that _shouldn't _be talking.

"Have I died and gone to the Wizard of Oz?" Kurt whispered and Jesse chuckled, the only one to get the reference. "I'm sorry." He spoke louder to the tree, feeling a bit as if he were dreaming. "We were hungry. I think I should have realized that I should take nothing for granted here." He ended quieter so the group could hear him but not the talking tree.

"Well don't do it again! Ask before you pluck, that's manners!" And with that, the tree spoke no more. Kurt was still blinking in shock and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"If the forest fights back when we find food, how will we eat?" Finn asked, rubbing his empty stomach with a whine.

"I don't know, maybe we will find another house in here somewhere. That couldn't have been the only house." Kurt trailed off as they quickly walked away from the apple trees. They came across a small river that was only ankle height, but it was about five feet wide. When the six singers walked across, they tried to do so without getting any water into their shoes, but they were unsuccessful. On the other side all of them had to take their shoes off to wring out their socks before continuing, feeling more unhappy because of the wet socks.

They were managing well for ten minutes, staying on the well lit path and not straying when Artie suddenly set off in a run like the dogs of hell were after him. Immediately, Brittany, Santana, Kurt, Finn and Jesse ran as well, trying to catch up and find out what spooked Artie.

"Artie!"

"H-help! The shoes are going crazy!" He called from many feet ahead, and slowly but surely Kurt was being left behind, the least athletic and in shape of all of them. His vision darkened with the heavy exercise, having run full blast to try to catch up. Kurt stopped, bent over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath when it darkened completely and he fell over, passing out onto the dirty forest floor.

A/N: A bit shorter, and a LOT longer wait, sorry about that! I hit a sort of road block, and I want to not have this be Labyrinth 2.0, and it feels a bit like that for me right now so I've been thinking of ways to make it my own and it's taken me over four months to finish this chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you next update!


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